In the seven years Jim Pribyl has lived at the corner of 16th Street and Cascade Avenue on University Hill, he has had his fair share of run-ins with drunken people meandering onto his property.

"We routinely have incidents of inebriated people urinating in our hedge," he said. "We've had incidents of people coming into our yard and urinating there. One night -- I'm talking deep in the middle of the night at 3 a.m. or so -- our dogs start barking and there is this young man unconscious under our window."

The issue of drunken trespassing in Boulder has stepped out of the shadows after University of Colorado graduate Zoey Ripple, 21, was shot and wounded by Timothy Justice after she entered his bedroom at 3 a.m. May 23.

While Ripple's case has drawn attention because she was shot, Boulder officials and Hill residents say less-violent trespassing incidents are much more common than most people realize.

"It happens more than you would think it does," said Cmdr. Curt Johnson of the Boulder Police Department. "And it happens more than we the police ever know about because a lot of cases go unreported."

Advertisement

According to police records, since September 2008 there have been 170 cases of trespassing into a residence involving alcohol, including 44 in the University Hill area. There have been 22 cases already this year.

No charges in many cases

Johnson said a majority of the cases involve CU students who are "so intoxicated they don't know exactly where they are or what's going on."

Ripple, according to police, had a blood alcohol content of 0.2 and told officers she thought she was walking into a friend's house. According to witnesses, Ripple was last seen drinking at a party in the 1100 block of University Avenue before she arrived at Justice's house at 425 College Ave., about a mile walk.

Donald Misch, director of CU's Wardenburg Health Center, said that type of disorientation is not unusual for someone with a blood alcohol content as high as Ripple's.

"It's certainly a high enough level for many people to not understand where they are or what they are doing," he said.

Police said in most cases, officers simply take the person to the Alcohol Recovery Center. The District Attorney's Office tries about 12 to 15 Boulder cases a year.

"In the majority of these cases, we're dealing with people who are very intoxicated and usually demonstrate that they were merely in the wrong place and had no other criminal intentions," Johnson said. "The residents of the home normally just want them removed and are not interested in pursuing criminal charges. A lot of those cases typically end with somebody being taken to detox."

Johnson said he believes many more cases go unreported, especially in areas such as the Hill where residents might be more used to drunken antics.

"In areas like University Hill, people probably do dismiss it a little faster than a family residential neighborhood," he said.

Pribyl said although he has never had an intruder enter his house, he has had many people try their keys in his lock or knock on the door looking for someone. He said eventually they wander away.

"It's sort of the price you pay when you live amidst a student population," he said.

Pribyl has installed motion lights and has a fence around his yard to deter wanderers. He has a baseball bat in the corner of his room, but he said he doubts he would ever use it.

"It's pretty dusty," he said.

'It could absolutely be dangerous'

Johnson said if residents find somebody in their house, they should always call 911 and avoid confronting the person, and he warned that not all trespassing encounters are harmless. He recalled a case in 2001 in which a drunken home intruder was shot by the elderly homeowners, then assaulted the wife and turned the gun on the husband, wounding him.

"If a homeowner decides to defend themselves or their property, it could absolutely be dangerous," Johnson said.

In addition to being disoriented, intoxicated people may also be more likely to take risks and act on their more primal instincts, which could make them a danger to themselves and others, health officials say.

In Ripple's case, she suffered a gunshot wound to her hip. Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said she was lucky she wasn't more seriously hurt or even killed.

"I'm pleased most of the time nobody gets seriously hurt or no serious property damage or criminal behavior occurs, because it has the potential to be dangerous," he said. "That's why Colorado law is so clear about protecting the sanctity of a person's dwelling. People entering without permission is dangerous both to the people entering the house and the people in the house."

Garnett did not charge the homeowner who shot Ripple, citing Colorado's "make my day law," which authorizes the use of lethal force if a person enters a residence uninvited if there is perceived criminal intent or possible harm to a resident. But Garnett said residents involved in such incidents often struggle in dealing with the aftermath.

"Anything that involves an invasion of your dwelling, whether it be a home or an apartment or a trailer, has an enormous psychological impact on people," he said. "Some people recover quickly, some people never recover at all, and that's why these cases are a top priority. The last thing people want to worry about is some stranger entering their home."

Ripple was charged with first-degree criminal trespass, which could carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. But Garnett said in most trespassing cases, prosecutors are focused on getting the defendant treatment, not jail time.

"If we can help somebody by charging them and holding them accountable, particularly when they are young, then we are certainly meeting our goal of public safety, which is my main job, and being fair to the individual."

Hill residents worry about safety

Garnett said his office is working with the university to educate students about the hazards of excessive drinking. But some Hill residents say they are still waiting to see results.

Bill and Susan Marine, who have lived in the 1100 block of Lincoln Place for 32 years, said they constantly deal with noise, vandalism and trash in their neighborhood. They have even had boulders dropped on their car.

They have discussed moving because of it.

"It's come close in the last two or three years, I have to admit," Bill Marine said. "My wife and I talked about it, and we do know people have left the neighborhood because of the partying."

Knowing what he knows now, he said he would have decided against living on the Hill.

Susan Marine said she loves the area too much to move, and she isn't concerned as much for her safety but the safety of the students wandering through the area.

"I'm more worried about a murder a block away and dangerous things happening," she said. "Not so much that I worry about my own safety, but I think it's a great danger to students and to our police also."

Pribyl agreed, pointing out that Ripple was wandering around alone for almost an hour too drunk to know what was going on around her.

"Just think about how vulnerable this woman was to sexual assault," he said. "It was bad enough she got shot, but she was lucky she didn't die."

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story